The Round Lake Historic District is an area of approximately 160 acres that illustrates the full spectrum of popular residential design during the first half of the twentieth century. The historic building fabric within the district not only reflects prevalent styles and types, but also illustrates that the housing pattern in the Round Lake area was influenced by the influx of tourists in the early part of the twentieth century. The styles expressed in the historic district include: Frame and Masonry Vernacular, Craftsman Bungalow, Minimal Traditional, Tudor Revival, Mediterranean Revival, Colonial Revival, Prairie, Mission, Classical Revival, Dutch Colonial Revival, American Foursquare, Art Moderne, and Minimal Traditional. One- and two-story single-family dwellings typically with one-story garages to the rear, constructed between circa-1905 and 1952 characterize the district. The residence at 734 Grove Street, built between 1898 and 1906, is the earliest constructed resource within the historic district and it is individually listed at the local level. There are also few small commercial buildings in the area. Of the 1,013 buildings that were surveyed, 919 contribute to the character of the district and 94 are considered noncontributing, a ratio of 90 percent contributing to 10 percent non-contributing.

Round Lake was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in September of 2003 because of its remarkably intact collection of early twentieth century residential design and its significance in the areas of community planning and development and architecture. Principally a working-to middle-class neighborhood, Round Lake is associated with the broad patterns of the community’s history. This area exemplifies the influence of St. Petersburg’s tourism industry on the Round Lake neighborhood’s residential housing stock. In addition, the neighborhood is one of the first to be developed outside of the commercial center of the city, and illustrates the beginnings of suburban planning principles. Those principles that ensured continuity to the district include: the original layout with its grid pattern and alleys that parallel the avenues; brick paved streets and alleys; hexagonal block patterns in the sidewalks; and the granite curbing. Comprised of a distinctive and sizable collection of intact early twentieth century residential architecture, Round Lake is architecturally significant as it contains excellent examples of popular styles constructed throughout the first half of the twentieth century. These include Frame and Masonry Vernacular, Craftsman Colonial Revival, Mission, Mediterranean Revival, Prairie, Art Moderne, American Foursquare, Tudor Revival, Dutch Colonial Revival, Classical Revival, and Minimal Traditional styles.

---

The Rawls House - 734 Grove Street North
Built in 1898 the William L. Rawls house is the singular remaining example of a "I"-house in St. Petersburg. The house was one of the earliest structures built in the area around Round Lake, a neighborhood platted by H.H. Kinyon and O.E. Wood. The property was purchased by R.E. Rawls on July 14,1898. It was later sold by R.E. Rawls to William L. Rawls on May 16, 1906, who lived in the house with his wife until his death in the mid-1920s. The surrounding neighborhood consisted of wood frame single family houses, most built between 1898 and 1917. During the 1920s boom the density of the area increased dramatically; existing houses were enlarged and/or converted to boarding houses and new apartment buildings were constructed. The surrounding Round Lake neighborhood was built-out by the end of the 1920s boom, and has changed very little since that time.
The two-story balloon frame building is a Frame Vernacular I-House clad with drop siding and raised 18" above grade on brick foundation piers. Windows are wood frame double hung sash (DHS) 2/2 light with plain sills and surrounds. The house features a one story front porch supported on the front (east) facade by four wood Tuscan columns (the simplest of all classical orders, distinguished by unfluted columns and unadorned capitals and bases). This porch and the clean proportions of the structure provide distinction to the exterior of this simple frame building. The house does feature a one story rear addition with gable and shed roof. The roofs of the Rawls house are gables covered by composition shingles of a relatively steep pitch.

The I-House is an important American house type that has its origins in 16th century England and was imported by the colonists for their use in the 17th century. Although it has changed slightly through the years, the basic components of plan and massing have remained the same. Defined by Fred Kniffen in "Folk Housing: Key to Cultural Diffusion", the I-House is "a two story, gable roofed house, one room deep, and at least two rooms wide, and often with one story rear additions."

Folk housing types, such as the I-House, can be described as the backbone of working class architecture throughout the country from its inception in the 17th century through the 1800s. In the time following the Civil War, however, they lost favor to more complex designs. During the turn of the century, the houses that were preferred were the late Victorians pictured in magazines and journals -- homes like the Williams House (1891) and the Straub House (1902). The cost of these more elaborate homes did keep them out of reach of some of the population, so folk style houses could still be found but were primarily relegated to rural areas. However, St. Petersburg did not experience exceptional growth until the 1910s and 1920s, when the bungalow had already established itself as the housing of choice for the working class. For this reason it is not surprising St. Petersburg may have only had a handful of these folk style I-Houses, of which the Rawls House is the lone known survivor. (HPC #96-02, Designated October 1996)

---